Comment by Mayaz Rahman for October/November CCB 120
The “Giving in Numbers” report shows us that overall corporate giving levels remained static in 2010, and earlier in the year a similar report looking at UK corporate giving showed the same thing. In neither country has giving recovered to pre-recession levels while the need from NGOs is greater than ever. Corporate giving and community partnerships seem to have reached a real crossroads.
The old donor/recipient model between companies and NGOs may be on its last legs, but we are now entering a new age of convergence and collaboration, where companies, multi-lateral agencies and NGOs will need to work together more closely on issues of joint materiality, creating shared value.
The two PepsiCo articles are great examples of this form of collaboration; while the company and it’s foundation are injecting cash into partnerships, more interestingly, and maybe of greater benefit to their partners, PepsiCo is offering it’s expertise to help find solutions to major global problems – advancing partner causes and ensuring a sustainable future for it’s business. In the same vein, Abbot is not only providing cash, but also expertise to PATH, and its multi-faceted partnership will involve not just an NGO partner but “local manufacturers and rice millers, building and empowering local capacity by strengthening local distribution chains”. Of course, this sort of partnership is not limited to the realms of global development. I was recently at an event where the head of CSR at a UK insurance company said that while his company did of course give money to charities and take part in volunteering days, all very important for building brand reputation and employee engagement, the real value derived from their NGO partnerships was in working together on developing new relevant health and life insurance products.
So, maybe the traditional donor/recipient model is on its way out, and maybe charities need to move away from focusing on corporate fundraising to looking at corporate partnerships. As for companies, it seems the way forward is to use their giving and NGO partnerships in a more strategic way, honing in on issues where they can add real value and investing in areas that will help the sustainability of their business in the long term.
Mayaz is a Senior Consultant at Corporate Citizenship. Email him at mayaz.rahman@corproate-citizenship.com to discuss community strategy and investment and cause related marketing.
PepsiCo, World Food Programme and USAID address malnutrition in Ethiopia
PepsiCo, the United Nations’ World Food Programme and USAID have entered into a public-private partnership with the aim of increasing chickpea production and promote long-term nutritional and economic security in Ethiopia. The initiative, Enterprise EthioPEA will have specific objectives including to enable 10,000 Ethiopian farmers to realise a two-fold increase in chickpea production by applying modern agricultural techniques, develop locally sourced and nutritionally rich supplementary food to address nutrition and scale-up and strengthen the Ethiopian chickpea supply chain to increase the potential of an export market and the availability of products to consumers.
FedEx to open Europe’s first ‘Humanitarian Response Centre’
FedEx has recently announced its intention to open Europe’s first humanitarian ‘Forward Response Centre’ at the FedEx Roissy Charles de Gaulle hub. The centre ill be used to facilitate the work of Heart to Heart international, specialising in worldwide humanitarian assistance, by serving as a secure warehouse where medical and other emergency supplies can be stored and quickly transported by FedEx in times of disaster. This initiative coincides with the recent delivery of 4 tons worth of hygienic aid to Kobe refugee camp in Ethiopia. The 3,960 individual medical kits were donated by Heart to Heat International and will be used to try to reduce the number of hygiene-related diseases and mortality amongst malnourished children and pregnant women in areas with no drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities.
Corporate giving trends have diverged report finds
The Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy has released its seventh annual report on corporate giving trends. Giving in Numbers: 2011 Edition has analysed data from 184 companies and presents a profile of corporate philanthropy in 2010. The report finds that since 2007 companies have diverged in their corporate giving strategies with 25% of companies increasing giving by more than 25% and 21% reduced contributions by more than 25%. The report finds that companies are choosing to spend on larger and more targeted grants that address one or two specific issues and that they are prioritising basic needs such as health and social service programmes. There ahs also been an increase in the number of employee-volunteer opportunities, with 89% of companies reporting they have a formal domestic employee-volunteer programme.
Co-operative Bank to support co-operatives in developing countries
The Co-operative Bank is spearheading a new global initiative to provide finance co-operatives in developing countries. The Global Development Co-operative will provide $50 million to provide low cost loans for capital and infrastructure projects undertaken by co-operative businesses in developing countries. The fund will be targeted at businesses that have an interest in international development and are extending the reach of the co-operative model. This new concept has been developed in cooperation with the International Co-operative Alliance. The Global Development Cooperative has been developed as part of The Co-operative Group’s three year Ethical Plan that’s sets out goals and targets for the company’s ethical and co-operative ambitions.
PepsiCo Foundation to scale ‘WaterCredit’ Across India
PepsiCo has announced its intention to scale WaterCredit across India. The initiative provides will provide micro loans to families throughout India and supply approximately 800,000 people with access to safe water by March 2016. PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi said “Water is an integral part of PepsiCo’s business ecosystem, and ensuring access to clean, reliable sources of water is vital to the health and livelihood of communities around the world. We are pleased to extend our partnership with Water.org to expand proven and innovative strategies that will bring clean water and sanitation solutions to hundreds of thousands in India, and help enable a sustainable business in the future for PepsiCo.”
PATH, Abbot and the Abbott Fund will work in partnership to address malnutrition in India. The Abbott Fund has provided a three-year $1.5 million grant for scaling up and refining the production and distribution of fortified rice using PATH’s Ultra Rice fortification technology. Abbott nutrition scientists will also work with PATH to further optimise the Ultra Rice formulation in order to reduce costs and enhance the nutritional value of the grains. The partnership will seek to initially benefit 500,000 people through India’s public-sector food distribution programmes, with the longer term goal of expanding the broader market for fortified rice.
Coca-Cola Foundation awards $1 million to Turkish Red Crescent Society
The Coca-Coal Foundation ahs donated $1 million to the Turkish Red Crescent Society for emergency relief efforts in the eastern part of the country after the recent 7.2 magnitude earthquake. The funds will be used to provide immediate relief to survivors and to help build elementary school s that were destroyed by the earthquake. Coca-Cola Icecek has also shipped several trailers of bottled water for distribution in the affected area.
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